Jeff Locke's latest poor start has Pirates fans wondering about his future. While I don't want to put too fine a point on it, however, I'm not sure much has changed.
Locke's monthly ERA splits suggest he's gone way downhill after a great June and July:
April: 4.76
May: 5.73
June: 2.96
July: 3.26
August: 5.46
September (one start): 12.27
As we've repeatedly seen with Locke, though, short-term results don't always tell the story. He received an All-Star berth in 2013 on the strength of a strong ERA, but he predictably regressed down the stretch. Just as Locke's good stretches aren't always to be taken at face value, though, his bad ones aren't either -- this May, there were calls for the Bucs to remove Locke from the rotation, but if they'd done that, they wouldn't have gotten to enjoy his good results in June and July.